Package-tying device



H. A. ZEHRUNG.

PACKAGE TYING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26. 1915.

Patented July 29, 1919.

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THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPII co., WASHINGTON, I). c

HARRY A. ZEHRUNG, 0F PORTLAND, OREGON.

PACKAGE-{DYING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 29, 1919.

Application filed November 26, 1915. Serial No. 63,521.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HARRY A. ZEHRUNG, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Portland, county of Multnomah, and State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Package-Tying Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to package tying devices, and more particularly to a tying device adapted for repeated use, and particularly designed for use in tying packages of mail matter by railway mail, and post-oflice clerks, although it can be used for tying any and all kinds of packages.

In tying packages of letters, papers, and the like, under the present system, mail clerks use thousands of dollars worth of twine annually, and in tying a package, even by the most expert railway mail clerks, the package is held in one position in one hand while the string is passed around it in one direction with the ,other hand, then the position of the package in the hand must be changed as the string is passed around it in another direction, and then tied, after which the string must be cut or broken. This requires, not only considerable time in tying a package, but also involves a great waste of twine, for the reason that twine is used but once. It is also not uncommon for these packages to become untied and the mail matter to be scattered and the nature of the tie is such that if a loop of the twine comes off of one end of a package, the complete tie is loosened and the mail matter is scattered.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and comparatively inexpensive device which can be used repeatedly and by means of which a package can be tied quickly and without changing the position of the package in the hand, and also with which it is possible to make a tie which can not become accidentally untied, and which, even though one loop should be loose, as where a long flexible letter projects from a bunch of short letters, or even though the loop should actually come off one end of the package, the tie will not be loosened around the other direction of the package, but the package will be held intact.

In order to more clearly describe my invention, I have illustrated one practical embodiment thereof in the accompanying sheet of drawings which I will now describe.

Figure 1 is a top plan view ofa package showing my device in use, and showing in dotted lines the position of the hand in holding the package, with the end of the thumb broken off so as not to confuse the dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device itself, with a short piece of cord tied thereto;

Fig. 3 is an edge View of the device.

Referring now more in detail to the drawings, my invention comprises a plate, or body member 1, provided at one end with an eyelet 2, in which is tied a cord 3. Said plate, or body 1, is also provided with a hole 4, which forms a holding means for the device when not in use. The plate, or body, 1, at its opposite end, is preferably slightly bent, as'at 5, which not only turns the end thereof upwardly for a convenient purpose hereinafter referred to, but also gives a certain clearance, as at 6, for a purpose also hereinafter referred to. Mounted upon the top of said plate, or body 1, is a small plate, or button-like member, 7 secured thereto as by means of a rivet, or in any other way so as to form a neckS, between the body 1, and the button 7 The distance between the body 1, and the button 7, is made to correspond to the thickness of the cord which is used, so that the cord wedges or binds between the two when applied thereto.

I will now describe how the device is used in tying a package of letters. Referring to Fig. 1, the device is laid upon the package of letters which is held in the left hand, in the manner indicated in dotted lines, with the thumb resting upon the top plate, or button 7, the end of the thumb being broken away in order to avoid confusion in the drawing. With the right hand the cord is carried around the upper end of the package, as at 3 and brought up around the other end, as at 3 thence turned at right angles between the body 1, and the button 7, as at 3, and passed around the package, as at 3 the short way thereof, as indicated, and brought up around the opposite side thereof, as at 3 thence carried clockwise in a complete looparound the device between the body 1, and the button 7 as may be traced by 3 3 3 and 3 The cord is then given, preferably a couple of turns around the end of the body, or plate 1, as at 3 and then in order to surely prevent the cord from coming untied, a loop, or half-switch, as 3 is made around the end of the body 1. It will be apparent that, with the thumb resting upon the button 7, as the cord is assed across the end of the body 1, it can be moved to direct the cord underneath the upturned end of the device, so that the loops 3 can be very quickly and conveniently made around the end of the device, and also that the half-hitch 3 can bemade almost as quickly. The package can be dangled vigorously by the loose end of the cord without any danger of coming untied. Attention is also called to the fact that the cord, at its turn aroundthe button at 8, is locked or wedged between the body 1, and the button 7 by the loop 3 of said cord after it has been passed around the package the short way thereof, which operates to hold the cord at 3 and 3 between the body 1, andthe button 7, and even though the loop of the cord at 3, around the upper end of the package, or theloop at 3 around the lower end of the package, should be loose enough to work off the package, the tie around the package theyshort way thereof isvheld tight by the binding at 3 3* and 3 caused by being wedged between the body 1, and the button 7 and is held in place by the loops 3 and the half-hitch 3 With my device, tied in the manner indicated, if one loop of the cord around the package in one direction becomes loose, it doesnot aflectIthe other loops. It is not necessary to change the position of thepackage in the hand in tying the device, and when the device is once tied, which can be done quicker than the most expert of railway mail clerks can tie a package in the ordinary 'way, it can not possibly come untied.

I am aware that slight changes in the form of my invention can be made without departing from the spirit thereof, and I do not, therefore, limit the invention to the particular embodiment thereof, here shown for purposes of illustration, except as I may be limited by the hereto appended claim forming apart thereof.

I claim: 7

A package tying device consisting of a flat metal body with cord attaching means at one end and at its other end dished substantially as shown to vgive cord clearance Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, :by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents, Washington, D. C. 

